Hotung Café was last night crowded with students eager to hear the first of two debates between juniors Lauren Levine and Sam Wallis — the candidates for Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate president.
Coming as a surprise was Wallis' arrival from Israel, where he has been studying abroad for the past semester. He said that just 35 hours prior, he decided to fly back for the debate instead of participating through Skype as originally planned.
The candidates discussed different proposals to improve communication between the Senate and the student body and enhance the sense of community at Tufts, among other ideas.
The debate began with Levine and Wallis sparring over the latter's decision to make a return to Tufts, with Wallis explaining that he returned after seeing his campaign team members' dedication and hard work.
"I was trying to sleep with a seven−hour time difference, and I just could not knowing people were out all night painting the cannon for me," Wallis told the Daily.
Levine, however, felt she should have been informed in advance.
"I think that he deserves the right to be here on campus talking to people the same way I am; I just wish I'd gotten a little bit of notice," she told the Daily.
The conversation quickly turned to discussion of more substantial issues.
Discussing her qualifications and prior experience, Levine cited her time working with the TCU Treasury, during which she helped rework its modus operandi, and her work with Programming Board to help rewrite its constitution to make it more flexible.
Wallis highlighted his long tenure as co−chair of the Senate's Services Committee, during which he worked on projects such as the expansion of on campus Wi−Fi and the Merchant Off−Campus Partners (MOPs) program.
A recurrent theme of the debate was building a stronger sense of community at Tufts and improving communication between the Senate and students. While both candidates agreed that these issues needed to be addressed, they proposed different means of doing so.
"The biggest issue is that we boast diversity and then have no methods of making everyone at Tufts feel comfortable," Levine said during the debate. "It kills me that there are people that are going to leave Tufts having hated it and scoff when the Alumni Association sends e−mails asking for money. No one is listening. No one cares. I think it is ignorant to ignore that until all 5,000 students feel welcome here."
She proposed hosting weekly fireside chats during which she would field questions from students and listen to their concerns. Levine also suggested creating an online student organization forum to better facilitate communication between groups about scheduling and budgeting issues.
Wallis agreed that building community is the biggest challenge facing Tufts. He proposed instituting a program to improve attendance at athletic events, which he believes could be a key to creating a sense of community.
Some of his ideas included having performance groups at games and ticketing sports events, while simultaneously working with Greek organizations to organize after−parties requiring the tickets for entry.
The candidates disagreed about whether or not there are too many programs at Tufts but agreed that either consolidation of or better coordination between student groups is necessary.
Levine noted that on any given night, 15 different events could be taking place, which she believes has the effect of fracturing the student body and making it harder to create a sense of community.
Wallis proposed bringing groups with similar or identical missions together and creating a council of student groups to facilitate coordination.
Outgoing TCU President Brandon Rattiner, a senior, believes that the debate was an overall success.
"It's a confirmation of what I already knew — two incredibly qualified candidates are running, and the student body should be happy that these are their two choices," Rattiner told the Daily.
Rattiner applauded Wallis' decision to return to campus for the debate and the end of the campaigning season. He also credited Levine for taking the unexpected development in stride.
"I think that it's great that Sam came back, because all students should have a chance to meet both candidates before they vote," Rattiner said. "I think it showed a lot of resilience on Lauren's part to not be thrown off by that."
Wallis believes that the debate helped spark a lot of discourse on the issues raised.
"I thought Lauren and I were very upfront," he told the Daily. "We confronted each other on some things, and that's exactly how it should be. The point of this is to hash out different ideas. I think we did that."
Levine agreed that that the debate was a success.
"I think it went extremely well, and there was a really big turnout," she told the Daily. "And I think that both of us really had the opportunity to talk, share our ideas and give a sense of our personalities."
Freshman Ben Perlstein, who attended the debate, found it to be an important way to generate ideas for the Senate.
"I think that a lot of good ideas were thrown out there tonight," Perlstein said. "I'm excited to see how this campaign plays out. It's important for the Tufts community to have this conversation and have strong student leaders leading that conversation."
Some questions have been raised regarding whether Wallis' actions in flying back may have violated campaign rules, particularly those concerning expenditure limits.
Wallis said he does not know if his unannounced arrival breaks any rules but believes that no real complaint will be brought up. Levine declined to comment on the matter.
Tufts Election Commission (ECOM) Chair Sharon Chen, a sophomore, said at press time that no official announcement on the issue was available. Ellen Kan contributed reporting to this article.
